With the attendance of 25 representatives from six Districts of the Lasallian Region of Latin America (RELAL): Antilles-South Mexico, Bogota, Bolivia-Peru, Brazil-Chile, Central America-Panama and Norandino, the 1st International Meeting of University Pastoral Ministry of this Region marks a milestone by bringing together for the first time pastoral delegates from different countries, with the aim of strengthening the pastoral heart of Lasallian Higher Education Institutions, sharing experiences, reflecting on current challenges and dreaming together of a more lively, synodal and transforming pastoral ministry.
The meeting, which took place from 30 April to 3 May 2025, was held at the Universidad La Salle of Arequipa (Peru), and included formative spaces in which topics such as university pastoral identity, synodality, the pedagogy of accompaniment, pastoral ministry of vocations and cyber-evangelisation were addressed, thus outlining a common path of formation and renewal for the educational communities.
It was also an opportunity to “allow the participants to rediscover the richness of the Lasallian Mission in university contexts, promoting a pastoral ministry with a young spirit, a broad outlook and a passion for service inspired by the charism of Saint John Baptist de La Salle”, according to RELAL.
“This meeting was a first step, but a very significant one, towards a more integrated and transforming university pastoral ministry in a synodal way”, commented Brother Vinicio González, Secretary General of RELAL, in valuing the significance of this space “to get to know each other, to share the best pastoral practices we have and also to address pastoral ministry of vocations, as the Brother Visitors of the Region have asked us to do”.
For his part, Mr. Juan Manuel Torres, from the Universidad de La Salle in Bogota (Colombia), who was part of the organising team, highlighted “the importance of having arrived at some common lines around the understanding of university pastoral Ministry in the Region, the identity horizon of pastoral ministry and some commitments through the presentation of the most significant experiences of Lasallian university pastoral ministry”.
This will make it possible to “initiate a systematisation of pastoral ministry in the universities”, aiming at strategies to “be agents of change for this world, to really be people who can improve the society in which we live”, as Mr. Julio Caro Alfaro, from the Universidad La Salle of Arequipa and also a member of the organising team of the meeting, added.
As a result, the meeting has aroused among participants the desire to “continue networking, generating common projects and promoting a university pastoral that boldly responds to the challenges of university youth in Latin America”, declared Brother Vinicio.
“The challenge, the great challenge, is now to carry out joint projects which will allow us to strengthen the interior life of our students and to project them towards the service of those most in need”, concludes Br. Roberto Medina, from the Universidad La Salle Bajío (Mexico), and Ms. Silvana Calla, from the Universidad La Salle of La Paz (Bolivia) stated, “pastoral ministry in Lasallian universities is the fundamental purpose of integral formation (…) since, based on pastoral ministry, they not only strengthen their spirituality, but also ensure that their formation has a positive impact on the communities that are most in need”.
See below the report of LaSalleOrg News, which took part of a group of communication students from the Universidad La Salle de Arequipa.
